Eco-Info & Lead-free (Pb-free): What's Driving the Move to Lead (Pb)-Free Solder Processes?

Regulatory Activities

• European Activities (Status May 2004):
  
  The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was agreed on 13 February 2003, along with the related Directive on Restrictions of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS).
  
  The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) aims to minimize the impacts of electrical and electronic equipment on the environment during their life times and when they become waste. It applies to a huge spectrum of products. It encourages and sets criteria for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment. It makes producers responsible for financing most of these activities (producer responsibility). Private householders are to be able to return WEEE without charge.
  
  The Directive on Restrictions of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) will ban the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants from 1 July 2006. There are a number of exempted applications for these substances. RoHS takes its scope broadly from the WEEE Directive. Manufacturers will need to ensure that their products comply in order to stay on the Single European Market.
  

• In April of 1997, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry set a numerical target for the amount of Pb used for automobiles, except for batteries, and later ordered that it be reduced "to half compared to 1996 by the end of 2000 and to one third by the end of 2005". The Japanese government has also introduced legislation promoting the recycling of household electric appliances, to reclaim all Pb used starting in 2001. Household electric appliances manufacturers are already working towards the creation of completely Pb Phase-out products - Panasonic's (Matsushita's) press release.

• US EPA announced on July 29, 1999, a proposed rule to drastically lower reporting thresholds for Pb and Pb compounds to the Toxic Release Inventory from 10,000 lbs. to 10 lbs. Click here to see a history of U.S. Pb-Free activity as well as links to U.S. legislation.